In Flames
by Caribbean1989
Summary: 'The dragon's lifeless body crushed the burning remains of Lake Town as it fell from the sky. Somewhere, in the ruins of the town, was the man that had succeeded in killing that dragon. Bard'. One-shot. Please R&R.


The Black arrow hit its mark and buried itself deep in Smaug's breast. He gave one last earthshaking roar and breathed out one last stream of fire, before its wings started to falter.  
The dragon's lifeless body crushed the burning remains of Lake Town as it fell from the sky. Somewhere, in the ruins of the town, was the man that had succeeded in killing that dragon. Bard. 

* * *

The surviving inhabitants watched the scene from the shores of the lake. They had seen the dragon fall from the sky and knew someone or something had killed it.  
Among the survivors were three children. They were in more distress than any of the others, for they knew who had slain the dragon. And they knew who had still been in the town when the dragon's body came crashing down on it. Their father.  
The two girls, Tilda and Sigrid, were sitting on the ground crying audibly, while the boy, Bain, stood staring out over the water. He knew there was a very real chance that his father had not survived.

Bain felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see to whom it belonged. He found the Master of Lake Town stand behind him. A look of forced sympathy was on the fat man's face. Behind the Master stood Alfrid, with an equally disingenuous look of sympathy.  
"I am so sorry about your father" the Master said. Bain thought he was imagining it, but it sounded like a soft chuckle escaped the Master.  
He felt rage building up. How could this man be so cruel?  
"Thank you" Bain muttered back, deciding it was not wise to pick a fight with the Master of Lake Town. Instead he sat down on the ground and tried to comfort his sisters as much as possible in their grief. 

* * *

Bard opened his eyes. All around him was fire and smoke filled his lungs. Only a few feet away from him lay Smaug's gigantic body. The bowman surely would not have lived, had it landed on him.

Bard was hurting and quickly assessed his injuries. He had sustained quite a large burn to his left hand and forearm, where the dragon fire had hit him. Also there was a laceration on his calve. It was not extremely deep, but it did hurt. Apart from some smaller scrapes and bruises, those were the only injuries he had sustained and he was glad for that, for he knew it could have been a lot worse.

Still, he was not out of danger yet. The wooden buildings and foundations of Lake Town were ablaze and the fire was still spreading rapidly. Bard realized that the place he was lying now, would soon be smouldering too. He quickly scrambled to his feet and looked around for possible ways of escape.  
He stood on the small square that once formed the entrance to the Master's mansion. Now the boardwalks and bridges were being eaten away by the flames. Even the large bridge that had been the entrance to Lake Town had become inaccessible. Slowly Bard started to realize there was no other way: the water was his only chance of escaping the ruins of Lake Town alive.

He hesitated for a few more seconds, the flames still closing in on him.  
Then, with an almighty jump, Bard launched himself off the boardwalk and dived into the lake. His entire body immediately felt numb. The water was so cold! The first blocks of late autumn ice were already floating in the lake and it would not be long before it was entirely frozen over.

Bard did not know where any of the survivors had gone, or if there even _were_ survivors. He swam away along the remains of Lake Town's entrance bridge. Any survivors had most likely escaped via this way.  
Bard kicked at the water as hard as he could. His long coat had become extremely heavy in the water and tried to drag him under. He was so cold that his muscles felt powerless. His mind was the only thing that kept him going by now: he had not just slain a dragon to simply drown in the lake! He kicked even harder at the water. The shore was not that far, he had to make it… 

* * *

Some of the survivors had started fires in the sand. It was a cold night and they had to keep warm. Many people were still staring sadly at the burning remains of what once was their hometown. What were they going to do now? They had lost everything…

Suddenly and elderly woman, who used to repair the fishermen's nets, cried out and pointed to something on the dark lake.  
"There!" she yelled, "there's someone in the water!". Several others gathered around her to look at what she meant.

Bain heard the murmur of the people, but could not make out what they were saying. He looked up from comforting his sisters to find out the cause of this sudden excitement. He could see people pointing at the water and they appeared to be yelling at someone.  
Bain slowly rose to his feet. As in a daze he walked over to the still growing crowd. Could it be…? Was it possible that his father had escaped Smaug's desolation?  
He wrestled himself through the crowd and when he broke through the last line of people that separated him from the water, he knew his most desperate wish had come true… 

* * *

The water was extremely cold and several times Bard nearly stopped swimming. He nearly gave up on it all. But the thought of his children kept him going. The possibility that they had survived and he would give up on them, was just unbearable to him. There was no way he would do that to them.

Suddenly Bard's eye was caught by several lights on the shore. It looked like firelights to him and he felt his strength renew. He had found the survivors!

Bard swam as fast as his hurting body allowed him to. As he came closer to the shore, he could hear people calling out to him. They had spotted him and were encouraging him to hold on and swim to them.

Finally Bard felt the lake's bottom under his feet again and knew he had made it.  
He stumbled out of the water. His legs nearly gave out on him on several occasions and he was close to falling over.  
"Father!" Bard heard the voice before he actually saw his son. "Bain…" he whispered nearly inaudibly and allowed himself to fall to his knees in the sand.  
Bain broke through the crowd of people and flung his arms around his father. He could not mind that Bard's clothes were soaking wet and were drenching him too. All that occupied his mind was that his father had survived and that he was holding him now.  
"Are your sisters alright?" Bard asked through chattering teeth. "Yes, yes, they are" Bain answered without releasing his embrace. "Take me to them" Bard said a little more clearly.  
Bain carefully aided his father to his feet and led the way back to his sisters.

Bard saw his daughters sit on the ground, huddled together in grief. He cried out in relief and ran the last few meters over to them. He sank to the ground in front of his daughters and embraced them tightly, Bain joining them shortly after. 

* * *

They sat together for a long while. Sigrid was the one to finally break the family embrace.  
"Father, you're shivering" she said shocked. "I-I'm f-fine…" Bard said, but his stammering betrayed him. "You'll freeze to death!" Sigrid said while standing up and pulling her father to his feet as well.  
Bard allowed himself to be steered to one of the large fires.  
"Tilda, please, pick up some ice from the lake" Sigrid asked her sister. She had been examining the burn on her father's forearm and hand and knew it would have to be treated.

Now that Bard was close to the fire and could feel the warmth of it, he realized how extremely cold he was.  
A lot of the survivors of what once was Lake Town were watching the bowman. They knew who had slain Smaug and had saved most of their lives. They knew the Master had failed them and Bard had stepped up to protect them, and they were determined to make sure that this man was going to be alright.

Bard suddenly felt extremely fatigued and lay down in the sand, close to the fire. Sigrid was watching him nervously, doubting that her father really was fine.  
Tilda returned to them, carrying several blocks of ice she had managed to fish out of the lake. "Perfect". Sigrid took the ice from her sister. She next tore a piece of fabric off her dress and draped it over her father's injured hand and forearm, followed by the blocks of ice, which she placed on the fabric.  
Bard had been watching her silently. "Thank you" he said softly. The cold of the ice took the burning pain away and made it all a bit more bearable.

More and more people had gathered around the fire, as they all wanted to be close to their hero.  
Bard did not register much at that stage anymore. Exhaustion was rapidly getting the better of him. The murmur of the people, the warmth of the fire, the presence of his children; it all made him calm down enough to feel his exhaustion. Slowly, he closed his eyes and passed out… 

* * *

_Fire. Everywhere was fire. Above him, beneath him, to his sides. It was burning, searing, hurting, killing him…_

Bard did not know how long he had slept, but when he opened his eyes the night was still dark. He slowly blinked a few times, to try and erase the bad dream.  
Many people were asleep in the sand by now. He felt someone stroking his hair and slightly turned his head to look. Sigrid was sitting next to him. "Sleep, papa" she said and continued running her fingers through Bard's hair.  
Bard closed his eyes again. Everything was going to be alright. The people of Lake Town were safe and, most importantly, his children were safe. There still was the enormous task of finding new homes for an entire town's population, but in the end they would manage. Bard was sure of it. It would not be easy, but everything would be fine.  
And with these reassuring thoughts and the comforting feeling of his daughter's fingers running through his hair, Bard slept again. 

* * *

**Thanks very much for reading! I hope you liked it.  
All reviews are highly appreciated! :-)**


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